Who Shot JFK? Viral for 'X-Men' Movie Points to Magneto

Film Campaign Fills In Missing Years, Suggests New Conspiracy Theory

Published on November 26, 2013.

Coiniciding neatly with the 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination, a campaign promoting the upcoming X-Men movie, "X-Men: Days of Future Past," reveals a new conspiracy theory about the shooting. Apparently, the villainous Magneto redirected the second shot fired by Lee Harvey Oswald to kill the president. The viral video seen here directs viewers to a website, thebentbullet.com, where you can watch a fake documentary about Magneto's role in the event.

Both were created by Ignition and craft a narrative bridge from previous movie "X-Men: First Class" to its sequel by offering fans new details about what happened to Magneto (and other characters) in the 11-year gap that takes place between films. Along with slideshows, faked images and video, the site's content includes an essay entitled "The Bent Bullet" purportedly by author "Harper Simmons," which goes into great historical depth about the shooting.

Previously, Ignition and 20th Century Fox began the wave of marketing for the hotly anticipated film with a viral video and website advertising Trask Industries, a weapons and tech company responsible for creating the Sentinels, a robot army dedicated to destroying mutants. There were also a series of gorgeous character-driven prints that cleverly leveraged the X-Men "X" as a bridge between the "old" and "new" casts that will be united in the upcoming film, set for release in 2014.